Teams that Would - and Should - be Ranked Higher, if Not for One-Loss

Galena Park North Shore (No. 9 in Class 6A rankings)

Loss: Week 1 to South Oak Cliff, 41-31

North Shore plummeted from preseason No. 5 to unranked after a 41-31 loss in Week 1 to South Oak Cliff. The optics of a Class 5A DII team gashing the Class 6A team for 370 rushing yards on 9.49 yards per carry set off alarm bells. 

But two developments since suggest the market might have overcorrected. South Oak Cliff took Duncanville to the mat in a 35-28 loss, then beat Longview 20-17. Meanwhile, in the ensuing seven games, North Shore is averaging 56.4 points per game and allowing 8 points per game. Last week, the Mustangs mauled Humble Atascocita, jumping out to a 34-7 lead. 

“North Shore, traditionally, has almost immediately been a finished product at the start of every season,” DCTX editor-in-chief Greg Tepper said on the most recent Tep and Stepp podcast. “We’ve gotten spoiled, because it’s like, ‘Oh, Week 1, they’re just great.’ And this has been more of a build.”

Head coach Willie Gaston said North Shore had 10 new starters on each side of the ball for the South Oak Cliff game. 

“There’s not a Deion DeBlanc, Quanell Farrakhan or Cam Smith out there,” Gaston said. “We knew we had some talented guys. But it’s a lot different coming off the bench to now being ‘the guy.’ It was a bunch of bright eyes.”

Senior quarterback Kaleb Maryland, a Utah State commit who played in spot duty last year for four-year starter Kaleb Bailey, looked like a veteran from Week 1. He’s completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,147 yards and 24 touchdowns to just four interceptions.

But other new starters have matched their level of play to Maryland’s since the Week 1 loss. Gaston said young linebackers Omari Demerson and Dasean Royal, who struggled with gap assignments against South Oak Cliff’s rushing attack, are now playing at an elite level.

While North Shore has looked like a wagon, the TXHSFB world will know if they’re built to last after the final two weeks of the regular season against No. 12 Sheldon C.E. King and No. 17 Humble Summer Creek.

West Mesquite (unranked in Class 5A DI)

Loss: Week 1 to Princeton, 41-36

West Mesquite’s season-opening loss to Princeton (2-8 in 2024) had some wondering if second-year head coach Stephen Jackson’s inaugural season, the first winning record in six years, was a flash in the pan. But after reeling off seven straight wins, including last week’s 53-21 throttling over previously unbeaten Carrollton Creekview, the Wranglers have a chance to wrestle away the District 6-5A DI crown with a win over Carrollton Newman Smith (6-2, 6-0). 

Princeton is a Class 6A team that’s 5-3 in one of the toughest districts with Allen and Prosper. Their QB, Marcus Flowers, a three-year starter who’s second in the DFW area with 2,305 passing yards, exposed where West Mesquite needed to improve in the secondary. Since that game, West Mesquite has inserted BJ Logan into the starting lineup and watched him intercept five passes, including four defensive touchdowns. 

While the defense patrols the air, the offense racks up yards on the ground. West Mesquite’s top three running backs are each averaging at least 6.98 yards per carry. Junior Damarian “Fats” Robinson, a starter since his freshman season, leads the pack with 939 yards and 10 touchdowns. Their stats are a testament to the offensive line.

“We are starting three juniors (including center Markell Smith) there that are three of the best linemen in the state if you ask me,” Jackson said. “And then we have a senior (guard Randy Rodriguez) who didn’t start last year but has come along as one of our best offensive linemen, and he’s the smallest of the group at 6-0, 235.”

La Vernia (No. 9 in Class 4A DI rankings)

Loss: Week 2 to Cuero, 49-41

Every year, head coach Brian Null searches for his team’s identity. Unselfish was the word that kept popping up for this 2025 squad.

“We’ve got a lot of kids who last year played outside linebacker and this year are playing defensive end. Last year played tight end; now, they’re playing offensive tackle. Sean Garza played running back and is now at strong safety. Our quarterback played free safety.” 

No one exemplifies the team’s ethos like Garza, who is now the primary strong safety after rushing for 2,120 yards last season. Running back Ty Carter, who had 1,300 yards last year in his own right, has taken over the bell cow duties so that Garza could fill a need on defense. Junior quarterback Cooper Null, a free safety last year, won the offseason quarterback battle and has rushed for 768 yards and 18 touchdowns this season.

With all those familiar faces in new places, La Vernia was bound to experience some growing pains. 

The 49-41 loss to Cuero showed Null that his defense, which prides itself on a multiple look, needed to simplify its different formations so the unit could play faster. Remington Rohde is the defensive leader with 75 tackles and forms a solid linebacker corps with reigning District 15-4A DI Newcomer of the Year Vincent Capparelli. Cole Farmer has been a menace along the defensive line with seven sacks and 14 tackles for loss.

The mid-week victory over district championship-contending Bay City proved how far this team had come and the chance it has to go even farther.

Pottsboro (No. 10 in Class 3A DI rankings)

Loss: Week 2 to Sanger, 28-21

Pottsboro is technically 8-1, but it’s hard for head coach Matt Poe to consider his team’s one loss a loss. The Cardinals only played a half against Class 4A Sanger and trailed 28-21 before lightning cancelled the rest of the game. 

Since then, Pottsboro has put up one of the state’s most underrated resumes with wins against Mount Vernon (averaging 42.1 points per game), defending Class 2A DII State Champion Muenster, Dallas Life Oak Cliff before QB Camren Phillips’s injury (averaging 56.2 PPG at that point) and 7-2 Palmer. 

Pottsboro has an explosive offense piloted by senior QB Cayden Humphrey, who leads the Cardinals through the air (2,141 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and zero interceptions) and on the ground (864 yards, 15 touchdowns).

“I can’t express how important he is to our offense. He’s a dual-threat quarterback who is definitely the leader of our team. He’s an extremely tough kid, and his toughness rubs off on the rest of our team.” 

Last year, wide receiver Zavier Brady (824 yards, 7 touchdowns) was Pottsboro’s sole vertical threat, but the offense has opened up with the emergence of Trace Olsen (666 yards and 10 touchdowns) on the other side of the field. 

After searching for their best personnel package through non-district play, the Cardinals are starting to gel on defense, evidenced by a 35-14 thumping over 6-1 Pilot Point. Linebackers Carson Nix and Michael Ermon made for a talented tandem. Nix averages 12 tackles a game, while Ermon had 12 tackles himself against Pilot Point. Chase Damm, who started the year as a backup outside linebacker, has put his hand in the dirt and wreaked havoc on the defensive line.

Ropes (unranked in Class 2A DII)

Loss: Week 2 to New Home, 28-14

Coming off their best season in school history, Ropes was quickly humbled in a 28-14 loss to New Home. 

“I think New Home hit us in the mouth early and often,” head coach Beau Riker said. “Ever since then, I think our front has taken it upon themselves to play more physically.”

Senior offensive linemen Broxton Varnell and Kanon Buckner, who’ve started since their sophomore year, have led the mentality shift. The offensive line has paved the way for running back Ryland Keith to run for 1,079 yards.

“The yards after contact are unbelievable for him,” Riker said. “He’s got good strength in his lower body, and it’s hard to bring him down on his first hit.”

But Ropes’ offense is far from one-dimensional under coordinator Michael Pittman, who’s spent 17 years as a head coach and reached two state championships with Post. The Eagles run a two-quarterback system with coach’s son Zayden Pittman and senior Kade Franklin, whom Riker says has made giant leaps this year. Whoever isn’t lined up under center splits out wide with receiver Kolter Dockery, who earned a silver medal in the Class 2A State Track Meet.

The defense, meanwhile, has allowed just eight points over the last four games. Last week against Sundown, Ropes had five interceptions. That output, or lack thereof, is even more impressive given the Eagles’ defense has been without outside linebacker Kaden Riker, who posted 200 tackles last year. Riker suffered a Grade 2 hamstring tear and played in two plays against Forsan (a tackle for loss and pass breakup) before tweaking the injury. The coaches are holding him out until the playoffs. 

Returning all-state nose guard Victor Saenz has stepped up in his absence, racking up 116 tackles and 26 tackles for loss in eight games. Junior linebackers Maddux Sierra and Cason Kucel have combined to fill Riker’s void as well.